Stackhouse Soapbox - Time to show up for the Terriers

A number of years ago, the Yorkton Terriers went to a ‘game specific’ season ticket system and I was astounded at the backlash in the community from it. Fans had been taking advantage of this forever and it was well past time to stop it. After all, try going to a Saskatchewan Roughriders/Regina Pats/Winnipeg Jets/Saskatoon Blades/etc game using a non-game specific ticket. You can’t do it. Nevertheless, the fans won out and the Terriers went back to selling 28 tickets and allowing fans to use all 28 for one game if that’s what the holder so desires. That wouldn’t be a bad thing. What was a bad thing was that tickets were going unused and then handed out like candy, near the end of the year, by the buyer to others so they could go to the game for ‘free’. So, for the final 2-3 home games of the year, the numbers in attendance look pretty good but the actual gate money for the team is, incredibly, low because nobody really paid anything to get in.

This is crippling for a Junior ‘A’ hockey team that struggles to break even at the best of times.

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Fast forward to September 2018 and the Terriers are going to try this again. Your season tickets will be game specific. If you don’t go to the game, you are out a ticket. It’s that simple. But, before you get your underwear in knots, consider a couple of other things: the Terriers have introduced flex packs that allow the purchaser to buy a group of tickets that can be used for any game you want. There will also be a couple of ‘raincheck’ nights where you can use a ticket for a game you missed as an extra ticket for a particular game. Some of these details were brought to fans’ attention at the AGM and some were not. There is a new ticket system in place and it’s a learning process for the hockey club as much as it is for the fan; but understand this - fans have been on a gravy train for a long time when it comes to using tickets for the Terriers and it’s over. I know change is a bad word in this city, but it’s happening anyway because it’s a necessity for the Terriers to secure some financial stability. In fact, if I was at the controls I’d charge fans even more to attend games against Melville because that’s what everyone wants to see. I’d charge a bit less to see Weyburn and Estevan; but still more than if you were going to see games against the rest of the league as divisional games are, often, more important and of greater interest. I just bought tickets to watch the Jets play the Leafs and it was more money to see Toronto than it is to see Florida.

As an observer of this team since 2001, I have to say the gains made since March have been great. Ryan Kormos has been a success in the marketing chair and Mat Hehr has added to the club in the form of WHL vets Branden Klatt and Jared Legien. He’s also delivered on landing local talent, including potential rookie of the year Aiden Bulych, who wasn’t an easy signing. Keenan Sperling, Kishaun Gervais, Carter Lake, and Jordan Repsch are all also on board. This team is going to be better and more fun to watch than in recent years. Take it to the bank. The onus is now on the fans to show up and the players to deliver what I feel they are capable of doing.

I was hoping to make it through the entire article without mentioning our Prime Minister, but I can’t do it since every other media outlet appears to be giving him a pass on his use of the word ‘entropy’. He’s so smug and he was at it again this week during an interview where he bragged about the advantages of cultural diversity and he referred to it as a form of ‘entropy’. Entropy means ‘lack of order or gradual decline into disorder’. Basically, he — ignorantly — confirms what the opponents of diversity are saying. Yet, he delivered it with the same kind of confidence a 6-year-old would have when words are spoken clearly, but incorrectly. Example - my daughter Macey used to say ‘babing suit’ instead of ‘bathing suit’ and I never ever corrected her because it was cute. Trudeau isn’t cute. He’s stupid. There’s no other way to sugar coat that. Part of me wants to believe the media isn’t holding him to account on it because they’ve just come to accept this is who he is. He’s a disaster. Yet, those in BC and those east of Manitoba will elect Liberals to the House of Commons in spades. I don’t get it.

I’m not going to say much about this NIKE/Colin Kaepernick endorsement deal other than to say if we all made our purchases based on the morals and political views of those who are tied to such products, none of us would buy anything. I’m sure I can find someone you will disagree with high up the ladder in just about any company.

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